Obama Wants Sotomayor Confirmed Before August Recess

By Paul Kane
President Obama has set a deadline of a confirmation vote on nominee Sonia Sotamayor by the start of the Senate's five-week recess, slated to begin Aug. 7.

That timeline is achievable by historical standards, unless something appears in her background that is controversial and grinds the nomination process to a halt.

Four years ago, when they controlled the process, Republicans said the vetting and pre-hearing process takes six weeks. Over the last three decades of nomination fights, any announcement of a nominee by mid-June or earlier resulted in hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee by the end of July.

At this rate, the committee could hold mid-July hearings and still have three weeks for consideration and full Senate debate after that, to get a confirmation vote by Aug. 7.